four villages in the Khurda tehsil in Orissa , are facing a severe drinking water crisis. The water, according to reports, contains toxins. The residents of Singpur, Balasing, Balasinghpatna and Pallibalasingh are struggling against the onslaught of a number of diseases but the state government is yet to take corrective measures. The fluoride-contaminated groundwater has caused young men and women to die prematurely.
These villages belong to the assembly constituency of former chief minister J B Patnaik.
The villagers allege that they had pleaded their case but to no effect. Banka Behari Das, an environmentalist who visited the village recently, termed the condition of the residents of these villages as "precarious" and added that 90 per cent of the population suffers from senility even before they turn 50. Das has written to the Orissa chief minister apprising him of the situation.
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